What are you doing when you pause?

[Shockerz]

not too sure what a natural player is shock so it could be a bit of both.
i played naturally for years, didnt practice much but made several tons and looked the part. thing was when i came up against truly nice players that didnt miss much or hit bulk colors on their safety and found the back cushion more often than not when they werent scoring. they would leave me standing. thats were the work starts

I think the pro players now are both. They have a natural God given ability but they collect previously learned nuggets from coaches and players who have sweated it before them.

There is so much available for young talent nowadays to add to their natural ability that their rate of potential learning compared to 30/40 years ago is light years ahead.

[Shockerz]

Maybe that's why I keep trying to jab it..........I'll ask my wife how I should cue different!

Just asked my wife. She just stroked my face and then nutted me! Apparently The Voice is on.

[Cue crafty]

Just asked my wife. She just stroked my face and then nutted me! Apparently The Voice is on.

Ha Haa heee! I said it was all about timing didn't I? Lol. : )

[Shockerz]

Ha Haa heee! I said it was all about timing didn't I? Lol. : )

Life is certainly about timing. When i'm normally getting a few comments about the amount if time i'm at the club, that's generally when I have to let her know I have a competition to play as well.

It's tricky but well practiced!

[gpfan]

" What are you doing when you pause?"

Choking.

[Byrom]

Trying to pick up a woman

[Shockerz]

" What are you doing when you pause?"

Choking.

Now that made me chuckle, I was half watching a film whilst reading!

[JohnF14722]

Thinking about what I'm having for dinner!

[dcrackers147]

I was thinking about what goes through peoples mind when they pause.

For me, When I am in the back swing and pause I wait for a picture of the ball going in...........why do you pause and what do you see?

I just focus on completing my backswing and consciously think about keeping a loose grip prior to delivery. I have a minimal pause as whenever I put a deliberate longer pause in I lost feel. Players shouldn't really force a pause IMO...all good players I know with a deliberate pause were taught this when they first picked up a cue so they don't even think about it as it's ingrained into them.

[OmaMiesta]

Thinking about boobies

[narl]

Trying not to pass gas.

[Byrom]

On a serious note - I pause before delivering the cue - I pick out the line get down and have purposeful feathers to the white I push up to it and imagine the shot being played without going through the white - I imagine the ball going in and if its of I make minor adjustments - if the adjustment is too much I get back up. The pause helps me with the timing of the shot as when I push the cue forward I drive through sort of a coiled build up before going right through the white. I slowed the feathers to allow time to sight each shot and get a better feel of each shot - eliminating the guess work and this has increased my shot percentage and also improved my positional play.

I used to have a flicky cue action on the grip but was too inconsistent often decelerating through the ball or cueing across it under pressure occasionally - so anyway I eliminated it using a more closed grip and went for a more positive striking technique - and am working on keeping it consistent now

[acesinc]

I am coming to this a little late but I love this topic. In the last several years, I have developed quite a significant pause, probably between a second or two though I have never actually timed it. When I am not playing well, timing of the pause is one of the first things I look at to find correction. My best game seems to come with several eye switches during feathers. When ready to strike, short pause with tip at cue ball, eyes on tip of cue and exact contact point of cue ball I intend to hit as dictated by the shot choice. Begin slow pull back and at this time, switch eyes to object ball contact point for final time. And wait.....I have found I am best to allow my eyes this second or so to actually focus on the contact point. Our eyes are really a mechanical device like the aperture of a camera lens so some time is necessary for the component parts to physically make their adjustments for proper focus from a near target (cue ball) to a far target (object ball). Meanwhile, as some others have said, when I am hitting well, during this pause, my brain should do......absolutely nothing. If anything comes into my mind, I ought to stop and start over, but I usually don't so I often miss those shots.

A statement I like to make is "How does Ronnie O make it look so easy? Exactly the same way he ties his shoes....doesn't think about it, just does it." The brain is obviously needed to figure out WHAT to do, but I think the brain will mainly cause interference when you are actually trying to do it. Do you THINK about how you tie your shoes?

[jonny66]

I am coming to this a little late but I love this topic. In the last several years, I have developed quite a significant pause, probably between a second or two though I have never actually timed it. When I am not playing well, timing of the pause is one of the first things I look at to find correction. My best game seems to come with several eye switches during feathers. When ready to strike, short pause with tip at cue ball, eyes on tip of cue and exact contact point of cue ball I intend to hit as dictated by the shot choice. Begin slow pull back and at this time, switch eyes to object ball contact point for final time. And wait.....I have found I am best to allow my eyes this second or so to actually focus on the contact point. Our eyes are really a mechanical device like the aperture of a camera lens so some time is necessary for the component parts to physically make their adjustments for proper focus from a near target (cue ball) to a far target (object ball). Meanwhile, as some others have said, when I am hitting well, during this pause, my brain should do......absolutely nothing. If anything comes into my mind, I ought to stop and start over, but I usually don't so I often miss those shots.

A statement I like to make is "How does Ronnie O make it look so easy? Exactly the same way he ties his shoes....doesn't think about it, just does it." The brain is obviously needed to figure out WHAT to do, but I think the brain will mainly cause interference when you are actually trying to do it. Do you THINK about how you tie your shoes?

Agreed, snooker is like walking, it's just difficult to accept that you're still a toddler. Not you personally, I think most people on here are probably still toddlers, I definitely am. Pressure also comes into it obviously, put a 10 foot plank on the floor you can walk straight along it easily, put the same plank 100 foot in the air and it's a different story.

[Shockerz]

Pressure also comes into it obviously, put a 10 foot plank on the floor you can walk straight along it easily, put the same plank 100 foot in the air and it's a different story.

I like this analogy.

Snooker and aerial assault courses both have consequences when you miss so that adds pressure.